Construction is the key to perfect dumplings

Shannon Newley
Deputy Editor
When I am not working on putting out another edition of The Daily Examiner, I can be found pursing my other passion – food.
I write a weekly food column for APN publications and love spending time in the kitchen developing new recipes, usually while sipping on a wine.
A country girl at heart, I enjoy living in regional areas and love the sense of community that comes with it.

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MY MISSION in life is to get really fast at constructing dumplings so I can eat them all the time.

There is a food court at a shopping centre in Melbourne where you can see a merry band of ladies working away making dumplings.

It's amazing how fast they churn them out in order to keep up with demand.

I have made many dumplings of varying kinds and while making the filling is quick and easy and they cook in no time, it's the construction that really holds up the show for me.

My advice is to get a couple of people working on them at once.

Here I have given you an easy filling recipe.

Just make sure you cut up the prawn meat finely as big chunks will make it hard to fold the dumplings down the track.

Chilli oil is available at Asian grocers and supermarkets with good Asian sections but you could easily substitute it with more sesame oil and fresh chilli.

If you are using the chilli oil, taste as you add it, it's super hot and will blow your socks off.

If you are making homemade dumpling wrappers, you can actually cook them in the chicken broth, but store-bought ones will fall to pieces so steam them and then place in the bowl, cover with the broth and serve straight away.

The other way of cooking these is more traditional.

The pot sticker method is nice and easy and gives a nice golden brown crunchy bottom.

If you are not a fan of seafood, use 400g chicken mince instead of prawns and you can freeze any leftover mince ready for next time.

Dumplings

Ingredients

500g green prawns

250g chicken mince

2 green onions, chopped finely

2 tbl hoisin sauce

2 tbl soy sauce

1 tbl minced ginger

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbl sesame oil, plus extra

30 dumpling wrappers

Method

Peel, devein and chop prawns into a mince consistency.

Combine meat, sauces, garlic, oil and ginger.

Lay the wrapper on a clean surface and put a spoon full of the mince mixture in the centre.

Using your finger, wet around the outside of the wrapper.

Gently pick up the wrapper and bring together the sides, pinching them together so they seal.